Chapter 62 : No comparison, no harm

“Thank you, girl, you’re so kind,” said the woman selling insoles, taking the mung bean soup with gratitude.

“Auntie, you’re welcome. If you get thirsty, just come by our stall and have some more,” Jiang Sui replied, then continued handing out soup to the other vendors.

There was also a girl selling flower hairbands nearby, about the same age as Zhou around twenty years old.

After drinking the mung bean soup, she picked out a pink peace charm with a tassel and handed it to Jiang Sui.

“Thanks for the mung bean soup. This little corn tassel is for you, just something to hang on you like a trinket.”

Jiang Sui wasn’t shy about accepting it. She examined the corn-shaped charm closely, liked it very much, and decided she’d give it to Lanlan.

“Sister, you’re really talented this corn tassel is beautiful.”

“As long as you like it,” the girl said gently.

The two hit it off and chatted for a while. Jiang Sui learned the girl’s last name was Song, and people on the street called her Miss Song.

Miss Song could make many different styles of flower headbands and waist tassels, all handwoven. Her craftsmanship was truly excellent.

Near the Xiao family’s stall, there was also a young man selling bamboo hats and an elderly man selling lanterns. Jiang Sui gave them both some mung bean soup too.

All at once, the atmosphere among the vendors became more friendly and familiar. After all, everyone was doing business on the same street, it was better to get along and help each other out.

At that moment, an old woman passed by the stall. She was dressed in rags, hunched over, and had a head full of white hair.

She saw the sign at the Xiao family’s stall advertising free mung bean soup and, after hesitating for a moment, walked over and cautiously asked Mother Xiao: “Sister, can I have a bowl of your mung bean soup?”

Hearing this, Mother Xiao looked at the old woman and then smiled kindly.

“Of course, sister. Come out of the sun and sit, I’ll get you a bowl.”

With permission granted, the old woman stepped under the stall’s canopy.

The mung bean soup was still warm, just the right temperature to drink.

The old woman seemed to have been thirsty for a long time. She drank the first bowl in one go. Still unsatisfied, Mother Xiao ladled out another bowl for her. The woman thanked her repeatedly and finished it all again. When she left, she kept expressing her gratitude over and over.

While delivering the soup, Jiang Sui took the opportunity to walk around the street and noticed that Boss He’s stall was doing quite well today, with a full crowd.

As she got closer, she saw that they had also put up a sign clearly copying her idea. It read: “He Ji Noodle Stall, Only five coins per bowl for the next three days!”

It was a little too obvious.

Jiang Sui couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless. But just then, she overheard a customer who had just finished eating, paying the bill and talking to his companion as they walked out: “The noodles are cheap, sure, but the flavor’s just so-so. Not as good as those hot and sour noodles down the street. The meat in this doesn’t have much taste either. The meat sauce in the hot and sour noodles is still the best.”

“Exactly. Might as well spend five coins on a bowl of vegetarian hot and sour noodles.”

“That mixed noodle is good too. Perfect for hot weather like this.”

Hearing this, Jiang Sui’s previously gloomy mood instantly brightened.

She thought to herself: ‘You can copy all you want, but no matter what tricks you pull, your noodles still won’t taste as good as mine.’

After all, people wouldn’t know the difference without having something to compare it to.

—

That evening, the sun was about to set, but Xiao Yi still hadn’t returned.

Logically, he’d been gone almost the entire day, he should have come back by now. Mother Xiao was very worried. Her right eyelid had been twitching since the afternoon, and she feared something bad might have happened.

Since Xiao Yi hadn’t returned, she couldn’t close up the stall and go home yet. She was still waiting for him to come back and drive the ox cart.

Just as she was growing extremely anxious, Mother Xiao spotted Xiao Yi in the distance.

He walked slowly toward them, looking disheveled and distraught, still carrying the meat and eggs he had taken with him earlier.

Seeing this, both Mother Xiao and Jiang Sui immediately sensed something was wrong.

“Child, what happened? Why are you bringing everything back?” Mother Xiao asked anxiously.

Xiao Yi kept his head down, but when he heard her voice, he looked up. His eyes were red, and there was a wound at the corner of his mouth, which shocked and alarmed Mother Xiao.

“Mom, what’s wrong with Third Brother?”

When Xiao Yi saw his mother’s face, all his suppressed emotions surged forward, and his voice trembled as he said, “Mom… the baby… the baby is gone!”

What?

This sudden statement struck Mother Xiao like thunder. For a moment, she couldn’t even process it. What did he mean, the baby was gone?

“What do you mean the baby is gone? Don’t say things like that. Bah, bah, bah! Don’t be so pessimistic!” She refused to think the worst.

“Mom, Liu… Liu lost the baby!” Xiao Yi choked out. His tone was filled with despair, and tears streamed down his cheeks.

They say men don’t cry easily, but he was truly heartbroken.

Mother Xiao staggered back two steps, almost losing her balance, her face instantly drained of color. Fortunately, Jiang Sui rushed to support her.

Jiang Sui was just as shocked. How could the baby be gone, just like that?

The baby was already over five months along. At that stage, the fetus should have been stable.

“Third Brother, what happened exactly?” Jiang Sui had to know the whole story.

So Xiao Yi recounted everything that had happened when he went to see Liu that day.

He had gone to her house carrying meat and eggs. They’d been quarreling for over a month, and he thought if he showed her some kindness and told her about the family’s improved situation, she might be happy and willing to come home with him.

But as soon as he arrived in Liu’s village, people who knew him looked at him and sighed, shaking their heads. He immediately had a bad feeling.

When he reached her house, the gate was tightly shut. He knocked on the door, but no one answered, even though he clearly heard Liu’s younger brother, Liu He, speaking inside before he knocked.

The Liu family was pretending not to be home. Xiao Yi knew something was off and kept knocking, but still no one came to the door. Feeling uneasy, he went to the neighbors to ask around.

At first, the neighbor hesitated when he saw Xiao Yi, but eventually, feeling sorry for him, he told him the truth.

A few days ago, Liu Jiang the eldest son of the Liu family was unable to pay a bride price, so the woman who was supposed to marry him backed out, unwilling to wait any longer.

Liu Jiang, frustrated, took it out on their parents. That’s when Liu (Xiao Yi’s wife) came up with an idea.

She suggested that since the Xiao family had once found ganoderma (lingzhi) and ginseng in the mountains, maybe their family could do the same. If they were lucky, they could sell it for dozens of silver taels.

They didn’t understand that finding Lingzhi was purely luck, something you stumbled upon, not something you could count on.

Desperate, Liu Jiang agreed and decided to go up the mountain to search.

Liu had her own motives. Her pregnancy wasn’t too far along, and she could still move around. She wanted to go too, thinking if they really found something, she’d get a share of the money.

But then something terrible happened she slipped, fell down a slope, and lost the baby at five months pregnant.

The Liu family panicked. They knew it was their fault and didn’t dare let the Xiao family find out. If Xiao Yi wanted a divorce because of this, Liu’s reputation and future would be completely ruined.